Part of the wall of this area has collapsed, leaving an opening to the quiet cavern beyond. Elrus finds nothing of interest.
Turning to the southern door...
This room contains a long table and sturdy chair, each with thick manacles dangling to the side. A smaller table in the corner hosts several surgical tools, including a deep basin, saws, scalpels, and needles. Wooden shelves support an open ledger and variety of other objects, and large, empty stone basins stand in the room’s other corners.
The ledger lists “Items Recovered” and “Items Requested”.
On the shelf labeled “Items Recovered,” you find fragmented notes . You also find a circlet of persuasion..
On the shelf labeled “Items Requested,” you find three flasks of alchemist’s fire and one potion of lesser restoration. Under “Items
Requested” the ledger also lists “spellbooks — unknown quantity and whereabouts,” “Fading Light lab notes,” and “plague cloak,” but these items are not checked off.
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Siegfried's eyes go wide as he reads the notes. "Hokey Smokes! Unless I am in confusion, comrades, the bad div became the gem!"
Luli shakes his head slowly. ”I don’t think this is the div,” he replies worriedly. ”I think this is the woman we saw in the visions from the horns - or what’s left of her. If I remember correctly, the Sage Gems hold the memories of their wielders and each new person adds their own I suppose it makes sense there would have to have been a first person to do so, but I’d thought they would have been a bit nicer...”
And did her notes say she created the other Sage Gems as well? Maybe the div could only remember that she had stored her essence in a Sage Gem and now is trying to find her and seek revenge?
You exchange one patient for another at the temple of the Dawnflower. It has only been a few hours but the priests assure you that all Obahar needs is rest, although magic might speed up his recovery.
He jabbers away enthusiastically as you lead him through the streets of Merab.
When you arrive once more in the Twisted Garden, Diya Akan is sat beside Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage. She smiles as she hears you approach but there is concern in her voice as she addresses you, "Obahar, what has become of you? It has been a few years since you left the Society."
Amenopheus stiffens suddenly and rises to his feet, looking directly at Luli, "I sense something... Report, Pathfinders."
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On their way back, Luli pauses for a moment to cup his glowing hands around Obahar’s. ”Here, let the sun burn away some of the clouds of your mind again,” he explains.
At the Lodge, the halfling sighs heavily. ”We found poor Obahar almost dead from the poison bite of a doru div. We’ve done what we can to help, but he was kept alive by an assassin in the employ of Grandmaster Torch before we arrived. An exchange of favors was made while Obahar’s mind was healed - knowledge of a lost temple where we might find more about this div in exchange for a promise from the Society to allow the Grandmaster to be part of the team to work with the Sage Jewels.” He pauses, then clears his throat and continues. ”The temple held several poor souls trying to summon the power of the Lord of Divs to hasten the end of the world. We thwarted their plans and recovered what we believe to be another Sage Gem - this one made from a terrible woman who weaponized diseases for a forgotten pharaoh. We did not, however, locate the div responsible for the disturbances at the dig site and around the city.” He meets Amenopheus’s gaze, waiting for the scholar to signal his readiness to receive the gem before retrieving it from his haversack.
Obahar is fully recovered by your last spell and hugely grateful to you all for your aid. He promises to arrange his notes and share what he knows with the Pathfinder Society, in case any small or obscure detail might prove helpful. When he leaves, he shakes his head, "You are braver fellows than I. It's things like these that made me leave the Society: too much danger in the discovery."
Diya Akan grimaces at the name of Torch but the Sapphire Sage shows no emotion.
Amenopheus does indeed gesture for the gem, "The spirit searching for me has faded. Perhaps it was the Div, or something more?"
Taking the Sage Jewel from Luli's hands...
... and closes his eyes, mumbling to himself, wisps of arcane energy swirling about his hands until, quite suddenly, the sage jewel flares angrily, and he casts it across the courtyard instinctively.
Amenopheus catches his breath before walking over to wrap the thrown jewel in a thick cloth. “Unfortunately, this confirms my earlier theory: the sages’ memories are not alone within these gems. The records you recovered and observations you made suggest that the first Jeweled Sages might not have create the sage jewels on their own, but rather modeled them off someone else’s design. Now it seems that prototype was the soul receptacle for an utterly depraved servant of the Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues who inflicted countless atrocities upon northern Garund. If she is awakening, the whole order is at risk unless we can use your findings to deduce some way to purge this evil.”
He massages his forehead for a moment before noting, “Whatever lies ahead will be difficult, and the future of the Jeweled Sages relies on what we can do about this threat. Once we have a plan, you shall be the first to know.”
He makes a deep bow and withdraws, leaving Diya to finish your debriefing. As you arrange to leave, she makes a final point, "You have shaken Amenopheus. This is an extraordinary find, and a true artefact. Your discovery today has almost certainly ensured that your names will be recorded in the Chronicles of the Society."